Our Little Moments
by River.Run.Red
Summary: My own collection of RobRae oneshots, mostly just mundane moments between the two birds. And as I'm a sucker for fluff, a lot of chapters will be drowned in all but fluffiness. Just to warn you.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Hairpin**

Nobody has ever thought of her as the feminine type of girl.

Not that she wasn't feminine, not in the least. She was just as ladylike and womanly as any other girl. They knew she still went shopping, though not frequently, and still spent hours at the rare stores she liked trying to find an outfit that suited her most. They knew she was fond of makeup, and sometimes they even saw her putting on some. They knew that she did girly things like all the normal ladies on the world.

But they also knew that she never enjoyed showing off, and never got pleasure from having all eyes on her. Attention to somebody else can be a reward, a delight, but to her, it was nothing different from torment itself. Maybe she would rather serve her father than to be in the center of the crowd, you would never know.

That's why none of them say anything when they noticed she started doing girlish stuff, like applying a thin layer of blush on her cheeks, or turning her lips gleaming in the light with the freshly released lips gloss. They were well aware of the fact that she disliked being bombarded with questions, especially for such a regular thing, and they respected her.

Well, that was just a part of the reason. Another part, a much bigger one, was that they didn't want her to blast them across the room or into another dimension. They had already seen more than enough what would happen if anyone dared to get on her nerve.

Besides, she was very discreet in her way of displaying her feminine side. Like she was afraid that somebody would notice that she was being girlish. So, most of the time, it wasn't until the end of the day that they actually noticed something different about her.

But today, things seemed to have taken a new turn.

"Friend Raven, you look so pretty today! Those small flowers are really cute on your hair!"

Starfire beamed as she flew in circle around her best friend in total excitement, her fiery red hair trailed behind her, like a blaze of fire fueled by her endless elation and could flare up any minute now. Opposite to her bubbly friend, Raven kept on sitting there on the couch with her legs crouched, eyes glued into the book in her hands, which she occasionally flipped a page, her back straight and her posture as motionless as a statue. It was like she was too absorbed in her precious leather-back massive book that she didn't notice that the alien princess was here. Or it could be that she just didn't care.

But Starfire wasn't bothered with this silent treatment at all. She had already grown used to it during her time living with the quiet empath, besides, her attention had already been captured by something else.

On Raven's violet hair lay a sprig of violet – or rather, a hairpin resembled a sprig of violet. The tiny flowers huddled next to one another with a few green leaves nestled between their petals, all were attached to a delicate metal branch to form a lovely and elegant piece of ornament. It was placed just above her pale little ear, pulling back a thick lock of hair and holding it in place. Strangely, despite being something so dainty, it suited her. Like it was born just to be on her hair.

"What're you on about?" Eventually, Raven shut her massive book with a sigh and rolled her eyes. Shooting Starfire a look of displeasure, obviously unhappy to have her reading time disrupted, she replied with a monotone voice: "It's just a hairpin. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing special. Why you must make such a fuss about it?"

"But this piece of hair ornament is so cute, Raven." Starfire exclaimed, inching her face closer to Raven's to get a good look at the details of the little flowers, ignoring the expression of vexation and discomposure the empath put on upon having someone invading her personal space too much for her liking. The alien princess rose a finger, tapping it on the delicate petals as though examining them: "They look so much like the flower we find at the store of plants in the city! Oh, just behold these cute tiny details…"

"I know, I know, my hairpin looks nice and real. So, can you please stop… poking it?" Raven winced, the irritation had already crept into her voice by now as her head bounced from side to side every time Starfire made contact with her hair. Sometimes that girl just somehow forgot that she was from another planet and had physical strength that can bypass that of all the humans in the universe combined. "I know that you just want to see it more clearly, but I honestly don't want to see my neck snapped in half."

"I am mostly sorry, friend Raven." Starfire said sheepishly, instantly removing her fingers from the object on Raven's head: "I just simply adored the beauty of your hair ornament. Even mine do not look as pretty as this. These little purple flowers are exactly what the women dressing beautifully on the magazines of fashion put on. Do you mind telling me where you bought this pin of hair? I would like to make a purchase on one too."

"I don't know." Raven replied nonchalantly. Her slender pale fingers ghosted on the metallic surface of the hairpin, before curling around one of the flowers. The petals feel cool on her skin, and she trailed her finger on their angles, as though finally having the chance to thoroughly check her little sprig of flowers out for the first time. The exquisite details gave out that this tiny thing was nowhere near cheap, and nowhere near easy to find either. Somehow, that brought a small smile on her usual calm-and-collected face: "It was a gift."

"Oh, such a thoughtful present then!" Starfire's emerald eyes lit up as her mouth formed into a perfect O: "Whoever gave you this must be caring for you so deeply. Such a beautiful thing like this is not what you can get at any store. They must have poured their heart and mind into the buying of this item."

Swept away by her own thoughts, Starfire never realized that Raven's violet eyes had stretched up wider when hearing the words coming from her mouth. For a while, the corner of her lips twitched up, and she seemed to have completely spaced out. The usual emotionless state that often shielded her expression dissolved, and the dark girl looked like she was brimmed with happiness, a kind of happiness that engulfed her heart and sent her to a land of utter bliss.

By the time Starfire returned her gaze to the empath, she had already regained her composure and went on devouring her thick book, her entire feature void of any emotion.

oOo

From the corner of his eyes, Robin observed the girls lazing off on the couch, enjoying a rare peaceful, eventless day. Well, correction, Raven was having a time for herself, and trying not to let Starfire ruin it with buckets after buckets of questions throwing at her. Strange as it might sound, this is simile the dark girl herself frequently used whenever talking about the alien princess. She said that the red-headed wasn't just expressing her opinions, she was splashing them around. And you have to be extra careful if you didn't want them to drown you.

It wasn't an ordinary way of talking, he had to admit. But it was her way. And he liked that.

Just as he liked many things about her.

Her sarcasm. Her humor. The way she never failed to make him laugh with her choice of words.

Her power, her ability, her enormous strength. She always seemed to be just a small, fragile girl, and yet, underneath that vulnerable shell hidden an untamable, fearless spirit.

Her endless attempt to try and overcome challenging situations. Sometimes, she even impressed him.

And of course, her discreet feminine side that she rarely revealed to anyone else.

The others knew that she was into girlish stuff, but they always thought of it as a moment of sudden interest or something. Can't blame them. Even she wanted them to think that way. She said that showing it out to them would be annoying, and she wasn't ready to be bombarded with questions and endless teasing.

Robin's eyes lit up behind his mask as he broke out in full grin when seeing her fingers clenched around the perfect hairpin he spent the entire afternoon looking for, and her usual cold and distant expression almost glowed in joy. He knew that it would look great on her.

Everything would look great on her.

And the fact that she actually clipped it on her hair and walked around with it almost made him want to jump up in utter delight. He knew the gift would be important to her, but he never expected her to actually display it to anyone else. Raven had literally gone to great length to ensure that nobody found out about her secret hobby, but now she was letting anyone see the little hairpin – the one he giving to her.

Knowing Raven, this would be just as admitting that he himself has a place in her heart, one that is so, so big that her own limits meant nothing to it.

And only this was enough to make his day.

Raven knew he was watching her, she always knew whenever he set his gazed on her. And slowly, the empath turned around. Her short violet hair gently swayed around as she did so, and he couldn't help but let his eyes linger on the cute little flowers attaching themselves to her hair. Yup, they suited her so well…

Violet eyes met domino mask. Lips set in straight line met an amusing smirk. And the girl quirked an eyebrow, as if asking why he was staring at her.

Quickly, naturally, like he had always had this in mind whenever he was near her, Robin blew her a small kiss and mouthed a "Love you" before giving her an ear-to-ear grin. And he could have sworn that his grin had actually managed to stretch even wider the moment he saw her pretty pale face turned into a slight shade of red.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note**: Rewatched Haunted and suddenly this idea burst into my head. Have to get it out now otherwise I'm gonna forget about it.

Chapter 2: Misinterpretation

The door to Raven's sanctuary slid opened, and the dark girl stepped into her sanctuary, no, not stepping, trudging. She had to grip on her bookshelf for support as her legs nearly gave out and knocked her down on the floor. In her current state, even if such a thing was to happen, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to get back to her feet and properly walk toward her beloved bed.

Mustering all her remaining strength, Raven forced her legs to continue, despite the exhaustion in her mind and her body protested against her decision. She had no problem with sleeping on the floor actually. But unfortunately, last night she was in the middle of performing a magical ritual when the alarm went off. Leaving in a rush, she didn't have time to clean up everything, and as a consequence her floor was now a mess with parchment and potion and candle wax all over the place. No way in Hell would she spend the night on that!

Eventually, she made it to her bed. And with a long sigh, the violet-haired girl literally collapsed onto the mattress. She gave out a long, exhausted sigh as she sprawled her lithe body on her bed, clutching a big pillow to her chest as her eyes drifted to the ceiling above.

She was beat!

Damned Robin and his stupid obsessive natured leading to him keeping a stupid mask of Slade and ended up inhaling the stupid dust then go paranoia and almost killing himself in the process.

Damned him for being so, so, so stupid and left her no choice but to enter his mind to save him and then freaking punched her in the jaw! Yup, she did see Slade, but obviously Robin was going crazy and beat himself up, and she was in his body so she ended up taking the hit full on.

It hurt like Hell, in case you wonder!

She knew that it wasn't entirely his fault, and she was happy that he was safe and sound at the end of the day. But this didn't change the fact that he was the one punching her, and the thought of that pissed her off.

Ahh, whatever, at least it was over. Besides, she had seen some… stuff in his mind that perhaps nobody was allowed to see. So she guessed that meant they're even.

Raven buried herself in her favorite pillow, let the familiar softness ease her mind and washed the fatigue in her limb and system away. Finally this exhausting and painful night had come to an end, she could relax and have a good night's sleep.

Right when Raven's eyelids shut and she was ready to let her mind be immersed into a land of bliss, someone knocked on her door.

… Or not.

Brows furrowed, the empath got off the bed and put on her cloak, trying to keep her body not to topple over. Who could it be at the moment? She had already made a point of telling everyone that she had no strength left, and that she would go straight to bed and that nobody should come and bother her unless they wished to be sent to another dimension.

Did an emergency take place?

With tons of questions swimming in her head, Raven trudged to the door and opened it. Whatever it was, let just get it over with. She just wanted to get back to her pillows and bed…

As her door slid opened, she was faced with the familiar red-and-green uniform of Robin. He stood outside her room, holding a steaming cup of tea which Raven realized to be her favorite chamomile tea thanked to the pleasant aroma it gave. A small, gentle smile brightened the lower half of his face as he looked at her.

"Robin? Is there a problem?"

The dark girl eyed her leader in a questioned manner. This's strange. Just a few hours back when she last met him, he looked like he was about to pass out any time soon. She had expected him to sleep like a baby and not come out of his room for at least 2 days in a row. Why was he here now?

"No, not really, I… well… I…"

He bit his lips, appeared to be lost for words. Obviously, he was nervous, and Raven didn't even need to be the number 1 empath to see that. He kept clenching and released his free hand, the hand with the cup of tea in it was slightly trembling and she began to fear that if she didn't reach up and catch it, it would fall to the ground. And she was sure that underneath his masks, his eyes were looking at anywhere but her.

He was… fidgeting.

Raven's eyebrows stretched up. Now this was odd. Fearless, calm-and-collected, stoic Robin was nervous and fidgeting right in front of her eyes like a kid getting caught red-handed when stealing candies or something. It wasn't like she hadn't seen someone got their panties in a twist upon meeting her. She had grown used of others behaving like this whenever seeing her around, especially a certain green shapeshifter who tended to get on her nerves, but never Robin. What was with him today?

Whatever. She wanted nothing to do with it. At the moment, she just wanted to lie down and sleep.

"Well, it's late already. And I'm very tired right now. Whatever you want to say, can it wait until tomorrow?"

She wasn't waiting for any reply. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She had no energy left anymore. But before she could shut the door and enjoy her peaceful sleep, Robin had already shot out his hand and put it on her shoulder. Raven almost jumped up in surprise, she didn't even expect this at all.

"This… this cannot wait… It's just… It… I…"

"Robin, what's wrong?" Now she was nervous too. The way he was stuttering, fumbling with every word as though did not know how to convey what he was thinking about wasn't normal at all. Robin had always been straightforward and never had any problems with voicing out his opinions no matter how unpleasant they were.

A thought ran through her mind, and a wave of panic rushed through Raven, almost kicking all the drowsiness off her system. Could it be that the dust was somehow in his mind and was affecting him once more?

"Is it Slade? Are you seeing him again?"

She took one step forward, nearly came face to face with him. And Robin seemed to… startle. His masked eyes avoided her gaze, and he sank his teeth into his lower lips. And was it her, or could it be that he was… slightly blushing? No, it couldn't be. The darkness must have played trick with her eyes.

"No, it's not him, don't worry." He dismissed her worries. His voice was much softer than usual, but Raven didn't think much of this. He had been through a night of kicking and screaming nonstop, she was surprised that he was still able to form decent words.

"I… can I come in?"

It was an odd request, but Raven still stepped aside and let him enter her sanctuary. She still had no idea what was going on, but her empathic abilities confirm her that this was the real Robin, not some impostor or robot in disguise, so she had nothing to worry about. Besides, she had no issue with him going in her room. He often came here in fact, asking her questions about magic-using villains or request her helps with certain artifacts.

At first, they just talked at the threshold, but eventually, she let him in. It's much convenient this way. Besides, he never messed her stuff up.

Raven sat down at the end of her bed, and Robin followed her. The mattress dipped with the weights of both Titans. He often sat here when asking her about certain things, so she didn't find it strange or anything. But the way he seemed to have ants in his pants the whole time rose questions in her. She tried to read his emotions, but they were overly chaotic and she couldn't actually get hold of anything.

"I… made you some tea." After a minute of nothing but silence, Robin finally spoke. He handed her the steamy cup, and looked down sheepishly: "A makeup gift. I hit you back there. Sorry about that."

"Oh? Thanks, I guess." Raven gently reached out and took the cup within her slender palms. Only now did she realize that he had used her favorite cup – porcelain and blue as the ocean itself – to brew her tea. Was he so apologetic about hurting her that he couldn't sleep even when he was physically wasted? Raven thought to herself, a part of her began feeling guilty for mentally taking her anger on him earlier.

But this didn't seem to be just that. Whatever bothering him seemed to be deeper, much, much deeper.

"It's good." She commented in her usual monotone voice after taking a sip. The warm tea ran down her throat and seeped into her veins, almost waking her up instantly. This perfect scent of herbs always brought peace to her mind.

"That's great to hear." Robin smiled. And everything again fell into utter silence. Raven went on enjoying her tea, waiting for Robin to say something and break the awkward silence. But he seemed to be captivated by her decorations and kept on glancing around and bored his gaze into her masks and leather-back spell books, completely forgot about her.

He was tapping his fingers against his knees. Once more, he was nervous.

But why? Why must he be so nervous around her? Did anything happen…

Oh. Right. Something did happen between them. Just hours ago.

She got it. She knew why he was a bundle of nerves.

"Is it because me entering your mind?"

He froze, and the tapping stopped.

Jackpot!

"Did… you see anything in there?"

After a minute or two of complete silence, he spoke again. His head bowed, and his voice was just barely above a whisper. She was afraid if she had misheard any word as his voice was too soft, too low. Raven's brows furrowed. Was he… afraid? But of what? True, she did see quite a few things in there, still, they weren't any horrible or unspeakable. Why must he be afraid?

The dark girl pondered to herself for a while. And then it suddenly dawned on her. Someone as secretive and always kept things in the dark like him obviously wouldn't want people to pry into his life, to open his chest of personal feelings and stole a look of what inside. He wanted people to think of him as Robin, nothing more, nothing, just Robin, the hero, the Titan leader, the crime fighter that feared nothing and could take on anything.

Yet, today, she peeled opened a part of him and entered it without his permission. She saw things that nobody could see before, knew things that nobody knew before. Of course he would be afraid when his secrets were no longer secrets, even to just one single person. Was she him, she would have been panic too.

Raven peered at her leader. He had his face bowed, obscured to her completely. And even if he did look at her, in the darkness of her room, she didn't think that she could read his expression.

His emotions were so chaotic that it started to give her a headache.

The dark girl bit her lips. She couldn't lie that she had seen nothing, he would see right through it. He wasn't the world's top detective's prodigy for nothing.

But she couldn't be too honest either, who knew what kind of old scars that it would open. Maybe she would even end up damaging him somehow. No, she had to choose her words carefully, make sure that nothing about what she saw in his head was brought up.

"Yeah, I did." Raven cleared her throat, and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Robin's fingers clenched into her bed sheet tightly. He had turned his face away, so all she could see was the back of his spiky hair. But she could sense his nervousness, and it was coming out of him in waves, hitting her full on and almost drowned her.

"But so what? I have no problem with that. You don't have to be afraid. It's fine to have one or two secrets. I understand."

His posture relaxed a bit. And she sighed in sheer relief as whatever he was feeling wasn't a mess as before. His emotions were still constantly shifting from one to another though, and she couldn't tell what was racing through his mind and heart as they changed so fast. Well, at least he seemed to be stable now, not a freaking bomb that could explode at any minute anymore.

"You… do? You understand what I feel?"

"Yeah, I know that it's not easy to go on with everything weighing you down like that." Raven bit her lips, urging each and every brain cell of her to come up with anything reasonable and acceptable to say: "Your… those feelings…" She was referred to what he was going through in his childhood, what he felt as each incident took place in the past: "I felt them all, they coursed through me… Like electricity… It must be hard for you to go on with all of those secrets. But it's completely okay. I might have seen it, but this doesn't change anything. Those things make you who you are, and I have no problem with that." She stopped for a while, hoping that it could get to him somehow. Don't blame her for saying things in such a vague way. She wasn't the expert of consoling and easing someone, let alone Robin of all people!

"Yeah, it's not easy at all." Robin's soft voice coming to her direction. He seemed… more peaceful now. "Sometimes, I don't think that I can bottle them up anymore. But… I have to. I don't want to run away, to hide from them and act like nothing happens, like they aren't there. But… we have our duty as protectors of the city. For the team's sake, for… for our sake… I…" He couldn't finish his sentence, as though the wave of emotion had flooded his mind and rendered him unable to speak.

Raven quirked an eyebrow, wondered what the difference between "the team" and "our" could be. Somehow, she had a feeling that something was… off. But she didn't know what. Was Robin being too… emotional? Over her finding out his secrets in order to save his life? No, he might be shocked for a while, but not like this.

Did she miss out on something? She knew that she probably did. But she couldn't get her finger on it.

"You say that you understand what I felt. Do you feel the same?"

What? What kind of question was that?

Did she feel the same? What could he possibly mean?

Raven was flooded with confusion for a long while. His unexplainable behavior has implanted a big question in her head, one that she could find an answer for no matter how hard she tried. And now he was talking in riddle. Did she look like she was I the mood for riddle?

Okay, maybe he just wanted to find out her opinion on secrets and all. Yeah, that's probably it.

"I guess… yeah… I feel the same… about se…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

She wanted to, she tried to. The next words had already awaited at the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't get them out. Besides, whatever she had to say, she was sure that at the moment, it had already dropped out of the corner of her mouth and vanished into thin air.

Her mind turned blank, and her violet eyes stretched up as large as two tennis balls.

Because out of sudden, Robin's fingers were on her cheeks, and he lifted her face…

And his lips were on hers!

Raven was so shocked, so shocked that she didn't know what to do. Never had she seen this coming. Never had she expected this to come. Of everything that could happen, never had she thought that he would kiss her. Robin, fearless Robin, logical Robin, the Boy Wonder, prodigy of Batman, leader of the Teen Titans and probably the dream boyfriend of every female being in the city… was kissing her.

How? How could it be?

As she was frozen in shock, Robin began taking things to a more… interesting level. Slow at first, hesitant, as though trying to see whether she would going to protest and blast him into the other end of the room or not.

By the time the dark girl regained her sense, he had already pushed her down on the bed. Eyes widened, face birch white, Raven could feel him moving on top of her, feel her cloak and his cape rustling against each other, feel his fingers in her violet hair and his other fingers stroking her cheek… lovingly?

"Robin… wait… wait…"

She opened her mouth to say something, to halt him in the act, but he didn't seem to listen. Like the urge to kiss her and get all the bottled feelings out of his mind had already taken over his brain, and he couldn't think of anything else but to lose himself in the kiss, in her.

Raven placed one palm against his chest, trying to push him, but he gathered her thin wrist in his grip and kept it in place. His hand was strong, but at the same time gentle, like he was afraid that he would hurt her. His kisses… were so fiery, so passionate, like he was wishing to melt into once with her, like he was waiting his entire life just to get this kiss.

Perhaps he did.

He held onto her tighter, and tighter, the gap between them vanished bit by bit with each and every time their lips touched. His lips were soft, so soft, how could such a demanding and passionate thing be so soft, it fit hers like puzzle pieces. Raven didn't know, she couldn't even think straight. Her heart was slamming in her ribcage like thunder. Was his heart beating the same way hers was? She didn't know.

But did she want him to stop?

She didn't know either.

The world seemed to have faded away. And for a moment, it seemed that only them existed in the universe, along with a kiss that blurred all her senses…

Eventually, Robin pulled away. And Raven stared up at him, blinking as though she was still in a dream. Her pale cheeks had turned into a deep shade of red, and her violet hair was all over the place – the pillow, the mattress, the sheet, her own face. Her violet eyes appeared unfocused, as though she was in a daze.

"One more thing." Robin smirked down at her, the cocky, smug smirk that always plastered across his face whenever he had something scheming up his sleeves. He quickly brushed his lips on her cheek, before whispering into her ears in a low, mischievous tone: "From tomorrow on, I'll be officially hitting on you."

And with that, he left. Cartwheeling across the room as though he had never been beaten into a bloody pulp by his own hallucination just hours earlier. She believed she had even heard him snicker in an excited way on his way out. The door shut, and again, she was left alone in her room, with the entire night to sleep her exhaustion away.

But she found herself unable to close her eyes.

With trembling fingers, the dark girl touched her lips which were still wet and swollen, solid proof that the unexpected series of kisses from her leader was real, and not a hallucination. Her widened violet eyes fell on her door, and there was only one single thing in her mind at the moment.

_What. The. Heck. Was. That?_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Soothe

(Its fluffy time, my dear RobRae fans :3 )

Night fell.

All the lights have been turned off, and the T-shaped building had been put into its shutdown mode. Nobody could get in, or break in, at this moment without getting caught by their security system and had to leave the island on a medical stretcher when their automatic anti-intruder gadgets come into life and start blasting at them by full force, or when meeting the wrath of five superheroes pissed off for having their precious sleep ruined, whatever came first.

That's why Robin skipped patrolling his home tonight. He had taken to the habit of touring the entire tower from the bottom floor to the rooftop on a daily basis, mostly just to put his own paranoia to rest. Years after years battling against all kinds of villains have nurtured within him an annoying personality that always on alert and always assumed that something would go wrong if he just let his guard down within one second. And it would never let he hear the end of it if he just miss one single patrol.

But tonight, even that stubborn and delusional side chose to ignore its daily duty.

It, just like every part of Robin himself, had something much more important to focus on, something that put all of his regular priorities in the shade.

The Boy Wonder's brows knitted into a straight line, his masked eyes bored into the piece of parchment he had in hand, as though he was seeing if he could somehow burn a hole through it. On his desk, the pile of files and paper and broken gadgets had been replaced by stacks of heavy, ancient books. Some of them were left wide opened, notes of all kinds taping to them, making it hard to see their own pages and whatever written on them. Still, through the tiny space between each piece of notes, certain words of the massive books could be made out, and no matter what they are, they seemed to always mention about the same things.

"Marks of Scath"

"Prophecy"

"Gem"

Robin's unblinking eyes continued to stare at the parchment in his fingers, at the blazing red symbol resembling a sinister S stretching from its top to bottom. He had been trying to uncover its meaning for an entire day, ever since they returned home from that unsettling library full with disturbing things that he had a hard time believing them to be true. Slade's demonic power that nearly wiped out his entire team, malevolent spirit that tried to send them to their doom, secret chambers for unknown purposes…

Raven's birch white face as she fled from him desperately trying to cover the red marks on her body, the red marks marred her skin like deep cuts from a sharp blade…

Grinding his teeth together, Robin couldn't keep himself together anymore and ended up having the growing anger within himself take over him completely. The anger was like a growing flame, feeding on his negative emotions and increased in size with an unbelievable speed. Letting out a furious growl, Robin crumbled the parchment and sent it flying into the wall opposite him, watching as it bounced back and rolled closer to his feet. Like a reminder of nightmarish things that would eventually befall them one day, and that there was nothing he could do but to helplessly watch it happen…

"Robin?"

Instantly, the rage within himself subsided, and his heart softened as something warm washed through him, like a delicate sun ray landing on the stormy clouds weighing down his mind, go through them layer after layer, before reaching his core and dissolved most of the emotional hurricanes inside him.

He turned back, and met the worried gaze of the slender girl curling up in his sheet, propping her body up on her elbows. Looked like he had woken her up.

Picked up the ball of crumbled parchment, Robin quickly flattened it and set it down on the floor next to him. His floor was now carpeted with papers and notes similar to it, some had gone all black due to the amount of words scribbled on them, while some are full of highlight marks as though they contain some discovery of the century. Scattered atop them were pieces of pencils and pens, signs of blind fury and pure depression overwhelming a certain masked boy.

"Go back to sleep, Raven. You have been through a rough day, you should get some rest." He flashed her a fainted, tired smile, silently thanks God that he had decided to put on his masks tonight otherwise she would have seen his blood-shot eyes. She had already had too many problems of her own to deal with, he didn't want to add more to that by making her worry about him. "You feel any better now?"

"You take my books here?" A question was her reply to him. Her voice was soft with a hint of curiosity lingering on its edge as she took a long look at the mess that was once his floor and desk. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing, but I think I'm getting somewhere." That was a lie, of course, a blatant lie and he knew that she would see through it immediately. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth, the words just couldn't come out of his mouth.

She said nothing. But the way her violet eyes seemed to have been drowned in utter darkness was enough to show him what was going on in her mind. She looked just as normal as always, and all the while ruined in every way. There was no longer any hope in her gaze, only silent despair. Like she had fallen into an endless pit and had no way to get out.

His heart plummeted to his stomach as he looked at the young, petite girl on his bed. Through their bonds, he could steal a glimpse of her emotions. They were constantly shifting, one after another taking over her mind, yet, none of them was optimist or pretty.

He hated it whenever she was in misery.

Robin tossed the papers aside as he rose from his spot on the floor. Enough of digging around in a hole where he was certainly it wouldn't lead to anywhere useful. He would find other ways to deal with this Prophecy and Trigon when morning came.

Right now, he had more important things to care about.

The Boy Wonder walked over to his bed and took of his cape and shoes. Raven raised an eyebrow as he did so, but she didn't say anything.

She didn't even protest or tried to move away as he lifted her head and torso up, and slid his body into the space between her and the headboard of his bed. And Robin knew that she was giving him the green light to go on. Sitting down and making himself comfy on his bed, the Boy Wonder carefully tucked the violet-haired girl's head under his chin and let her back lean against his chest. His legs stretched out as he positioned them next to hers, and his arms wrapped around her body, bringing her close to the warmth of his chest. Shielding her, protecting her.

Of all people, Raven was never truly passionate about cuddling. The last time he tried to use her as a human pillow, he had been seen across the room and nearly into a coma. Had he not been that close to her, he would have met his end right then. But now, the girl just simply relaxed and allowed him to hold her in his arms. As he eyes closed and she turned to press her face against his shoulder blade, he knew that she just needed this as much as he did. A dose of medicine for her fatigued, tormented, restless soul.

"My mother used to sleep with me like this every time I was feeling blue. She said that nothing cure a wounded human better than a big warm hug." He murmured as he buried his face into her hair, deeply inhaling the scent of lavender lingered on each violet strand. It brought peace to his troubled heart, reminded him that she was still here, still with him.

"She seemed like a kind person." After a long while, when he thought that she wasn't going to say anything, Raven replied, her voice just above a whisper: "She must have loved you a lot."

"She did." He patted her head slightly, as though she was a small child, or perhaps he was lost in his own memories that he unconsciously repeated his mother's gesture of comfort back in his childhood. His fingers trailed down her hairline, her temple, and he caressed her cheek slightly. A smile soon plastered across his face as the dark girl quietly lifted her slender hand and laced her petite fingers into his large ones. His arms around her squeezed a fraction tighter, and Raven found herself sinking further into the warmth of his body.

Robin kissed the top of her head, slowly trailed his lips down her forehead until they met her chakra. And the girl returned the favor as her pale slender fingers gripped his strong hand tightly and pulled it to her lips. She didn't quite kissing it, but didn't release it either. Like she was trying to hold on to him to prevent herself from being wiped away in the flame of her inescapable destiny.

And he was more than willing to let her.

"I see my mother today… And Azarath… all rendered into ashes…"

Her raspy voice entered his ears. And even though she had tried to hide it, he could still pick up a hint of fright lurking inside each word of hers.

"Our world will be next… I don't want to do that… I don't want to destroy it…

"Robin…" Trembling, the dark girl slowly lifted her gaze to meet his, and his heart almost shattered as he saw the terror as clear as daylight in her big eyes. She looked as white as a ghost, and about to break into tears at any moment…

"I don't want to…"

He looked at her in the eyes, didn't even advert his gaze away. Then, slowly, quietly, he pulled her tighter into him, and allowed her to bury her face into his broad chest. He didn't know what he was supposed to do to stop her father, to save Earth from being dominated by his Hellish army. But there was one thing he knew for sure. He would never let her shoulder that weight all by herself.

"Then you won't."

Brief, and curt. It wasn't just certain soothing words, or a promise. Rather than that, it was a statement, a confirmation from him.

"But…"

"I won't let that happen. The tragedy of Azarath won't take place on our planet. You have my words on it."

Again, brief, and curt. But somehow, his words lit a fire of hope from within her, and she found herself leaning closer into his embrace. The warmth radiating from him seemed to fuel her spark of hope, and for the first time in weeks, Raven felt truly safe.

She always felt safe in his embrace.

"Thank you."

A small whisper left her lips, and the dark girl closed her eyes, letting his warmth melted away the cold darkness rooted within her heart…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Hands

(Came across this cute little prompts while wandering on Pinterest. Might as well give it a try :3)

Raven sat on the massive black couch of the Titan Tower's Common Room, one leg on top of another while a gigantic leather-back book clutched in her slender fingers. This was the brand new edition of her most favorite novel of all ages, and she had been super excited all weeks long (in her own calm-and-collected, discreet, and obviously not squealed-into-her-pillow-when-she-was-in-her-room-all-by-herself way, of course) after hearing that it would come to the market soon. And now, she had finally got it!

As long as anything involved "Raven" and "books" took place, many people would assume that the former would stick her nose into the latter until the last page was flipped and not even the end of the world could separate them. And this wasn't just a mere statement, but a fact nonetheless.

But that little fact was about to change today, as the dark girl didn't seem to concentrate on the white paper and black-inked letters that she couldn't go a day without. Her gaze kept dropping from the book in her slender pale palms to something on the couch's cushions, something that caught her interest and wouldn't let it go no matter how she tried to pull it back.

Next to her, Robin casually leaned back against the high and soft headboard, appearing to be lost in thought while his eyes pinned on what seemed to be a stack of case file placed neatly on his knees. His lips were set in a straight line and his brows slightly furrowed when he tapped his forefinger against a certain part of the paper, something he hadn't truly figured out yet. Raven knew him, this kind of expression would only come when he was left in the dark and couldn't connect what he had to what he just found out.

Typical of the Boy Blunder, spare time was never in his dictionary. Did he even have anything related to spare and free and relax there?

Secretly rolling her eyes, the sorceress diverted them back to her book once more. But in less than a minute, they had already gone back to the couch's cushions, dragging her attention alongside.

Did she mention that the hottest season of the year had already tiptoed into the city? And that everything was practically being boiled under the unbearable weather? And that even in the Tower, the heat didn't get much better?

That's why some of them had opted to remove some pieces of garments when they are not on the battle zone. Beast Boy – his gloves, Starfire – her long boots, and her beloved leader, as fearless and brave and tough as he could be, was just a regular person, and regular person couldn't stand scorching weather.

So, naturally, he had decided to cast away his cape and those thick green gloves whenever they were by themselves in the Tower.

Currently, one of his bare hand, the one that wasn't busying scratching off unusable info off the file, lied innocently right next to her, less than an inch away. And Raven found herself unable to take her gaze off it. This was foolish! She kept telling her that. Foolish! Ridiculous! It wasn't like she hadn't seen his bare hand before, why must bother acting like a naïve damsel in those silly girl flicks – the type of girl that squealed and blushed like a tomato just because a man looked her way?

But despite that, she just couldn't look away. Her violet eyes trailed his large hand, was it a bit smaller without the glove? She didn't truly pay attention to this detail before. Still, that hand undoubtedly doubled the size of hers, masculine and strong – just like his own personality. Here and there, on his long yet brawny fingers scattered little scars of many shapes as well as some calluses – proves of a life of crime fighting.

Raven wondered what they would feel like. She hadn't truly got the opportunity to observe them elaborately before.

Before she even realized, her slender fingers had already reached toward his.

Right then, Robin suddenly lunged forward and sneezed while lifting his hand up to cover his mouth. Raven almost jumped in her seat, startled was just a part of the reason, the other part was because she didn't believe that she had actually tried and hold his hand, in the Common Room, right in the middle of the day!

Raven wasn't really that reserved, but she wasn't the type that like making moves on someone either. Besides, she had made a pretty good point that she wouldn't be into any… cheesy stuff like this. If he knew that she was just about to… grasp his hand like a silly teenage girl, he wouldn't let she hear the end of it!

Wait… Did he see that?

From the corner of her eyes, Raven quietly shot the spiky-haired boy a look, and inwardly sighed in relief as he seemed to be too absorbed in his case file to notice her.

But then, Robin set his hand back to its previous spot, and Raven couldn't refrain herself from staring, again.

Oh well, just once, maybe he wouldn't mind…

It seemed that luck had something against her today because the moment their fingertips were about to touch, the door leading to the Common Room suddenly swung opened, and the sound of arguing started blasting everywhere. Robin swiped his head backward to figure out what was going on, and Raven retracted her fingers while trying to hold back a gasp. Her eyes narrowed as she picked on certain sounds in the background.

"I told you I didn't cheat! It wasn't my fault that your dumb character fell on his ass and got it kicked by mine!"

"Because you pulled a dirty move! Dude, that was not cool!"

"I didn't, that move was on the game's list all along, and just so you remember, you used it just yesterday, twice!"

Soon, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum left, obviously to return to the arcade and proved themselves who the best were. The deafening sound followed them, and only stopped once the door slid shut again.

Raven rested her back against the couch, she could hear her heart thumbing loudly in her chest.

They sure knew how to pick the moment! Almost scared the living daylight out of her!

Robin had again returned to his former position on the couch, with his file on his knee, one hand quietly tapping against the paper, the other lazily resting on the couch's cushion. Raven bit her lips and curled her slender fingers, her gaze against fell on the slightly opened palm of her leader – a gesture that somehow seemed inviting in a way.

She weighed her options, but eventually decided to draw her fingers back and returned to her book. This was just ridiculous! Why must she bother about all this hand-holding thing? Maybe Starfire's endless franchise of dumb teen romance movies had finally gotten to her. She must really find a way to talk her way out of joining the alien on her movie night.

Besides, looked at him! He was trying to focus on his work. How could she just go and ruin his effort just because she wanted…

Something touched her hand slightly, and Raven inhaled in surprise as her pale, petite fingers were suddenly intertwined with something strong, yet warm and somewhat soft. She could feel the small scarves running across the tough skin…

Her eyes locked on her slender hand, only to find out that it had been squeezed between a strong, muscular, masculine palm. And a pair of masked eyes was looking at her in pure amusement.

"If you want my hand that much, you could just ask." Said the Boy Wonder casually as he again brought his concentration back to his file. "You know I could never say no to a pretty little bird."

Raven had her widened violet eyes for what seemed like an eternity, than they fell down to the couch where the two birds' hands innocently lacing with each other. Without a single word, she turned back to the book in her unoccupied fingers, trying her best to plunge her mind into its world.

That was the only way for her to distract herself and not blow up the entire Tower with her power spiraling out of control.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Energy**

Robin knitted his brows and shook his head before crossing something out on the piece of paper he was looking at. On top of the coffee table of the Common room, piling upon a the yellowish wooden surface were some documents full of writings, markings, notes and photos. It was obviously that he was working on a case. A complex one, to be exact, based on the way he relentlessly wrote down inferences and then disposed all of them, before doing it again, and again, and again…

Finally, the Boy Wonder let out a long sigh as he gave up, throwing the pen on the desk and watched it rolled on the mess of different materials.

Dead end, dead end, everywhere was dead end! He should have known better. After all, this was a 10-year-old case! If it had already lasted that long in this world full of detectives and heroes, how could he expect to solve it within only 24 hours and with nothing by his side but his own mind?

Okay, his mind was good, but it had only been in the hero career for like, 6 or 7 years. Something as old as 10 years was just too much for it.

Wait, did he just argue with his mind about his mind's capability?

That's it, he needed a break! He was getting delirious.

Robin cracked his knuckles as he leaned his back again his chair and placed his legs on the mess pilling upon the desk and interlaced his fingers behind his head, forming a relaxing posture. God, he had been in this sitting position for too long that he couldn't even bend his neck backward even just a millimeter! Everything running across his head right now was nothing but data, number, and other data. He couldn't even remember what he had done the day earlier. Oh right, he was working on this case…

Wait, why did everything he did in his free time usually involved investing a case?

Did he really have no hobby?

Was his life so dull that he actually made this his hobby?

"I'm surprised that it took you this long to realize. In case you're wondering, Yes. And past tense honestly isn't a suitable choice, when is your life not dull and boring and tedious?"

His train of thoughts derailed, and he was pulled out of his mind as the familiar monotone voice pushing its way into it. He didn't even need to look to know who was talking. After all, only one single person in this Tower would talk to him in this manner.

He casted a glance sideway, and wasn't surprised even the slightest as his gaze fell on her feminine, hourglass figure. She didn't bring her eyes to meet his, she never would, somehow she was just fond of pretending that she was the only existence in this universe and that everybody else was plainly invisible, even when she had just spoken to them at first.

She didn't have the gigantic leather books that she cherished like her own babies with her today. Instead, she was holding a delicate cup in her slender palms, the fragrant aroma and elaborate wisps flying up from it relentlessly like performing a dance indicating that her morning tea had begun. Now, if there was anything she loved just second to her books, that would be her tea – chamomile, nothing else added as it ruined concentration, like she had explained every time somebody questioned the inseparable link between her and the drink. Apparently, she would get grumpy without it. And like every Titan knew, a grumpy Raven could literally mean the funeral of anyone living with her, so they just let her be and never disturbed her precious time.

"I thought you said that empath couldn't read mind." Robin quirked an eyebrow, his entire back slumped against the soft sofa. Yeah, this was much better, his back was killing him. How long had he been slouching over the coffee table anyway? He couldn't even remember correctly. He woke up early, somewhere between midnight and dawn, and decided that he would just flex his mental muscles a little bit. It couldn't have been that long, could it?

"You were mumbling." Raven sent him a cold look, and calmly took a sip of her tea. "Perhaps you should consider a change of name. Boy Blunder seems like a better suit."

"Was I?" He found his eyebrow rising even higher, paying no mind to her harsh words. "I guess sleepiness has gotten the best of me." He had grown acquainted to her personality, and he knew that she didn't mean any of that. Crass, she was, and sometimes maybe cruel. But that was the things that made her her, she never went easy on anyone and treated everyone equally irrespective of who they were.

And that's why he found it comfortable to be around her.

"Running on coffee and stubbornness won't take you anywhere good, Robin. I would be surprise if you actually make it to your 20s." Raven spoke again, still in her emotionless and cold manner, but he could tell that there was some concern lurking somewhere in her tone, and that brought a small smile to his lips. His eyes set on her, on the slim, seemingly fragile fingers that encircled the small cup, on the violet eyes resembling rare gemstones that had never been discovered, and on the violet hair that seemed to glow as the faints rays of morning sunlight danced atop it…

Wait… was it morning already? He actually spent hours here without even realized?

"Go to sleep, Robin. It's not like the cases are gonna run away while you take a nap."

"But if I try a bit more, maybe…"

"You have been going at it for, like, three hours and a half, and yet, no progress." She glanced at him, her voice raised a notch as she tucked a lock of violet hair behind her ear. "They labeled those unsolvable for a reason, Boy Blunder."

Her eyes glinted, and he could swear that for a while, he saw the words "Bird Brain" running across her violet orbs even though she kept her face blank and emotionless as ever. He never could understand how she could put on a tranquil face and while holding someone as a ridicule subject with just her words and gesture. It was rather impressive, and, all the while downright terrifying too.

"You wouldn't mind if I sleep right here on the couch, would you?" Knowing that there was no point in arguing with her, mainly because she was right and his mind was not in the right state to form proper words, much less a battle with words against Raven of all people. "I really don't have enough energy to move."

"Go ahead. But just for you know, Cyborg and Beast Boy can get down here in just an hour or two and begin another franchise of 'Meat vs Tofu." Raven shrugged and replied in a nonchalant voice, as though she herself actually had no problem with that.

"Try not to kill them this time. And remember to open the window at first if you plan to throw any of them outside. The preparation fee put pressure on our budget last month." Robin mumbled, trying to hold back a yawn. Now that the concentration and adrenaline drained from his vein, exhaustion was coming and hitting him on full force. If he just shut his eyes, perhaps he would be gone until the end of the week.

But first…

"Could you go get me a sandwich or something? My stomach's just too empty to fall asleep."

"You sleep with your eyes, not your stomach. I don't see any problem here."

"That's hurtful!" He whined falsely insulted, even putting his hand on his heart exaggeratedly: "Come on, it'll not take long. There's leftover in the fridge."

"Then just go and grab it yourself." Raven stated with a stern voice, refuse to back down, her violet eyes focused on the cup in her slender hands.

"C'mon, Rae." The masked boy shot up from his half-lying, half-sitting position and inched closer to the violet-haired sorceress, until his black cap touched her indigo cloak. The dark girl instantly wiped her head toward him, scowling and shot him a heated glare, a clear sign that she was in no mood to fool around and that he had better get away from her unless he wanted to die a slow and painful death. But Robin just returned her with a sly smirk, unaffected by her rage. He didn't even know how come he mustered such courage, but he blamed it on the sleepiness.

"How about I give you a shot of energy first, and then you return the favor?"

"Knock it off, Robin. I'm serious…"

He lunged, and that was the only words she could spoke, because right there, he kissed her.

Full on the lips.

Raven widened her eyes, her heart skipped a beat, she didn't even see this coming at all. His lips were hot against hers, passionate, but all the while innocent. She could sense his desire, his care, his emotions, and on top of all, his love. It was at this moment that she wondered whether he was tired and had his mind invaded by fatigue at all, because he seemed pretty much awake to her…

She didn't even get a chance to fully react, to get a hold of the situation, and yet, he had already let her go. His thin lips hovered on her lump ones, a mischievous grin slowly stretched them up as his masked eyes stared into her shocked, perplexed violet eyes.

"Is that enough?"

She swallowed, finding herself almost shivered as his low voice danced on her ears, tickled the, toying with them, turning them all red. She took a deep breathe, doing her best to regain her composure and stop her emotions from blowing the whole Tower up.

"You taste terrible."

That was all her mind could come up with. It was too busying keeping her squealing and screaming emotions in control at the moment.

"That's why I needed the food." He closed in again, cutting the short distance between them. His gloved fingers reached up and twirled a lock of her violet hair around and around, had them trapped in his grasp, just like the way he had her: "If you're not satisfied, I can make up for you." Husky, masculine voice, and her skin crawled at that. Damn it, he knew exactly how to untangle her completely. His hot, almost scorching breath was on her again, and his hand began moving downward…

"For the love of… Fine! I'll get you that stupid sandwich. Happy?"

With all the strength she could gather, Raven extended her arms and pushed the unbelievable bold Robin away, feeling her breathing turned erratic as blood rushed to her cheeks and turned pale grey into deep red. Her leader leaned back against the sofa, smiling at her cheekily, as if he himself was the reason behind her being totally disheveled like this.

As he watched her getting up from her comfy spot, leaving her favorite tea unfinished on the table and stormed toward the fridge while cursing him under her breath, an ear-to-ear grin plastered across his face. He couldn't wait to see her reaction when he finished up the meal, and then just _finished her off_. He bet that it would be priceless. Maybe he could even get her to use her voice in a more… creative way.

But now… sleep!


End file.
